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Italy Benefit From Dry Pitch v Spain

The Spain v Italy match was altered somewhat by the build up as Spain’s request to have the pitch watered prior was met with opposition by Italy who wanted it to remain dry. The final decision rested on the groundsman for the game who decided it didn’t need watering. The spectacle was certainly affected adversely as a result with the grass a little too long as well which meant the ball did not run as smoothly and hindered Spain’s quick intricate passing, but also will have harmed Italy’s incisive counter attacking which would have been slicker had the pitch have been watered.

Polish Football Federation president Grzegorz Lato defended the move saying ‘Usually the field is watered before the game, but for this you need the agreement of the two teams’ and added ‘The Italians knew that dry grass, which is slower, was the best tactic for them’. In spite of this reasonable and honest defence (although he also claimed the pitch to be ‘impeccable’ which it was not), the point remains that teams shouldn’t be allowed to adjust the pitch to something more closely resembling a Sunday League battle to try and gain an advantage, and the default result if an agreement can’t be reached shouldn’t be to not water it, especially if the pitch clearly required it.